The Crucible: Miller's McCarthynistic Idea “The play was inspired by Miller's belief that the hysteria surrounding the witchcraft trials paralleled the contemporary political climate of McCarthysim.” McCarthysim is Senator Joseph McCarthy's obsessive quest to uncover a communist infiltration of American institutions. Communism is a theory of social change advocating a classless society. In a classless society there is chaos. In the following we will discuss how Miller's political views and experiences effected his position on gender and class in the crucible. In a communist society, the male gender